Ricky Martin losing sleep over Puerto Rico's hurricane crisis

12 October 2017

Newsdesk

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Pop star Ricky Martin is sacrificing his beauty sleep so he can maximise his efforts to help his fellow Puerto Ricans recover from the devastation of Hurricane Maria.

The Livin' La Vida Loca hitmaker jumped into action after watching news coverage of the destruction caused by the huge storm last month (Sep17), launching a crowdfunding effort on YouCaring to raise money for much needed food and supplies.

He has since made a number of mercy missions from his home in the U.S. to the island of Puerto Rico, each time taking a plane full of basic necessities to distribute among the hurricane survivors.

Martin has continued to keep up the good work, but coming up with new ideas to help means his brain is working overtime.

"I don't sleep," he told People.com. "I'm in creative mode, trying to see how we can bring love and hope to my people in Puerto Rico."

The singer and humanitarian recently returned from his latest trip to the U.S. territory, and he insists the situation there is still dire.

"What you see on television doesn't do justice to the reality of Puerto Rico," he explained. "We are still dealing with four million U.S. citizens who have no power after 16 days, no medicine, no water, no baby formula, no diapers."

"People are dying," Ricky continued. "I spoke to victims who had to bury their relatives in the backyard because no help came to them after almost 10 days. So it is a nightmare."

Ricky is also planning to take part in the upcoming Somos Live! benefit for Puerto Rico in Florida - he will appear alongside stars like Selena Gomez, Jennifer Lopez, Demi Lovato, Jessica Alba, and Sofia Vergara via a telecast during the show, which will take place at Marlins Park in Miami on 14 October (17).